The world is uncertain, and Crawford Investment Counsel, Inc. (CIC) believes that many investors underestimate the potential range of outcomes. This systemic overconfidence can lead to irrational decision making, securities mispricings, volatility, and, ultimately, larger than anticipated declines in both company fundamentals and stock prices. To help overcome some of the inherent uncertainty of investing in stocks, CIC prefers high-quality companies which bring enhanced visibility and predictability to the portfolio, thereby reducing the potential range of outcomes. It is for this reason that CIC focuses exclusively on high-quality securities and believes that quality is an important and often underappreciated factor in common stock risk and return.